| Bilsby | |
Bilsby parish church |
|
|
Bilsby
Bilsby shown within Lincolnshire |
|
| Population | 415 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | TF473766 |
| District | East Lindsey |
| Shire county | Lincolnshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Alford |
| Postcode district | LN13 |
| Police | Lincolnshire |
| Fire | Lincolnshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Louth and Horncastle |
| List of places: UK • England • Lincolnshire | |
Bilsby is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, just east of the town of Alford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 415.[1] It was mentioned in Domesday Book of 1086 when it consisted of eighteen households.[2] Asserby and Thurlby are hamlets located within the parish of Bilsby. The English surname Billing derives from Bilsby, and the village name may be derived from the Norse goddess Bil.[3]
Contents |
Thurlby was mentioned in Domesday Book, when it consisted of eighteen households.[4] Thurlby today is a hamlet in the parish of Bilsby, but in Medieval times it was a parish in its own right, and had its own church, dedicated to Saint Mary. However, there is no trace of it today.[5]
Indicated by earthworks, the hamlet of Asserby is smaller today than the village it was in Medieval times. Unlike Thurlby, it is not mentioned in Domesday Book and did not have its own church.[6]
Bilsby church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and is a Grade II Listed Building[7] dating from the 15th century. It was extensively repaired in 1841.[8] The church is covered with stucco, and has an 18th century stone tower with brick battlements. The pulpit stem is the bole of a tree, with its steps cut from another.[9] There is a memorial slab in the chancel to Sir John Byllesby, 1640, a prominent figure in his day, whose descendant, Major H.M. Byllesby (U. S. Air Service) largely aided a restoration of the church in 1918. [8]
Built about 1740 Bilsby House is a mansion in the Georgian style occupying the site of an older moated and castellated house,[8] reputedly the residence of the Bilsby, sometimes spelt Billesby, family.[10] This family appear to have left the original mansion in 1616.[11]
Built in 1861, Bilsby windmill was later extended, and wind continued to work it until 1932.[12] Although disused and missing its cap, it still exists and is a Grade II Listed Building.[13]
Mumby Road railway station used to be situated here. In 1897, Thurlby would have been an important junction between the Sutton and Willoughby Railway (part of the East Lincolnshire Railway) and a proposed line from a new port at Sutton on Sea to another in Warrington to be built by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway.[14]
A steam tramway ran through Bilsby, between 1884 and 1889. The Alford and Sutton Tramway[15] ran from Alford town to Sutton-on-Sea on rails set into the road; it opened in 1884 and closed only 5 years later.[16]
| Population of Bilsby Civil Parish | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 2001 |
| Population[17] | 337 | 373 | 416 | 453 | 584 | 611 | 510 | 450 | 387 | 377 | 313 | 318 | 293 | 251 | 415 |
| Aby with Greenfield, Muckton, Louth | Beesby, Maltby le Marsh, Theddlethorpe | Markby, Sutton on Sea, Mablethorpe | ||
| Tothby, South Thoresby, Swaby | Huttoft, Anderby Creek | |||
| Bilsby | ||||
| Well, Ulceby, Spilsby | Farlesthorpe, Willoughby, Welton le Marsh | Mumby, Hogsthorpe, Chapel St Leonards |